US talk show host Jerry Springer dies aged 79
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Controversial talk show host Jerry Springer has died aged 79.
He was best known for showcasing dysfunctional families on The Jerry Springer Show, which ran from 1991 until 2018 in the US.
Springer had stepped down from The Jerry Springer Podcast, after eight years, in December.
Family spokesman Jene Galvin said in a statement: “Jerry’s ability to connect with people was at the heart of his success in everything he tried, whether that was politics, broadcasting or just joking with people on the street who wanted a photo or a word.
“He’s irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart and humour will live on.”
Springer died peacefully at his home in Chicago after a brief illness, the statement added.
Before Springer’s broadcasting career, which included stints as a political reporter and commentator, he was the mayor of Cincinnati, in the US state of Ohio, and a political campaign adviser to US presidential hopeful Robert F Kennedy.
Springer was born in a London Underground station on February 13 1944, while it was being used as a bomb shelter.
His family – who had fled from Germany to England during the Holocaust – later settled in the Queens borough of New York City.
At Tulane University, Springer studied political science and went on to get a law degree from Northwestern University.
Before entering the world of entertainment, he worked at a law firm and then was elected to Cincinnati City Council in 1971 and 1975 before rising to serve as mayor.
Springer also had various unsuccessfully runs for various political office including Congress in 1970 and ran adverts to campaign to become governor of Ohio in the 1980s.
He later became a local television politics reporter and had an NBC affiliate WLWT-TV news show.
Springer began his talk show in 1991 with a more traditional format, before the series became known for chair-throwing and bleep-filled arguments.
On his Twitter profile, he called himself “talk show host, ringmaster of civilisation’s end”.
His talk show was so popular that it spawned a British version called Jerry Springer UK in 1999, along with a satirical musical based on his US programme.
Jerry Springer: The Opera, by British writers Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee, was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe and Battersea Arts Centre before being taken to the National Theatre in 2003.
In 2004, the Olivier Awards gave the musical four gongs, best performance, best sound design, best actor and best new musical.
Subsequently, Springer made his own stage debut in a musical, starring as Billy Flynn in Chicago.
There are plans for a funeral and a memorial, his agent added.
Springer was married to Micki Velton. They had a daughter, Katie, and divorced in 1994.
The family asked that in lieu of flowers, people should make a donation or an act of kindness to someone in need, or a worthy advocacy organisation, in tribute to the way Springer signed off his talk shows with the phrase: “Take care of yourself, and each other.”